The competition is open to all middle school and high school students in Akron and Summit County area.  It is not limited to the public schools.  (www.ci.akron.oh.us/holocaust for more information) Teachers are being notified that entries are due February 8, 2008 and winners will be notified by late March.

Awards will be given at the annual City of Akron Holocaust Commemoration on April 29, 2008 at 12 noon at the Main Library downtown. The exhibition of the winning art from the upcoming competition will run from April 7-May 2, also at the Main Library. The Awards Ceremony at 11:30 a.m. will present certificates and plaques to the middle school and high school students who were selected as winners in the categories of Creative and Research Writing, Art, and Multi-Media. The first-place winners in the various categories will also have the opportunity to visit the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., along with their teachers on May 17.

Also being honored are past winners and past contributors to the event's success and poignancy.

Hexter has 28 years of experience as a Jewish educator with adults and teens, and as a guest lecturer at area colleges, universities, congregations and organizations. She currently teaches adult education courses and has extensive experience serving as a resource on the Holocaust to area teachers, having run a teacher resource center for the Jewish Community Board of Akron. She has guided 12 Holocaust seminars in Akron and been a guest presenter at numerous others in Northeast Ohio and has served as a member of the committee from 1987-2002, chairing its Arts and Writing Contest for a number of years.

Esther currently serves on the advisory committee for Deadly Medicine, Creating the Master Race special exhibit, which opened at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood in September.